I was surprised to see that astigmatism can be corrected now, along with presbyopia (I have some of both). It appears, though, that there is a greater risk of still having haloes with those lenses, and that’s one of the reasons I’d want cataract surgery - to get rid of those.
My uncle, the one with the really bad outcome, had both eyes done at once. That was in North Jersey.
I’m in the U.S. South Florida, specifically.
I never realized how bad my bags were! Ok, they aren’t that bad, but my glasses absolutely hid them. I spoke to my regular eye doctor, and she told me they hadn’t changed. She’s one of the only people who routinely saw me without glasses 
I’m currently going through an RF treatment for dry eyes - it helps unclog the glands, and encourages collagen growth to help me close my eyes more completely. I asked if it was similar to treatment for bags under eyes, and she told me it’s the same technique, and I’ll likely have an improvement as a side effect 
FWIW, the dry eye problems I have is one of the reasons I went with this surgery instead of LASIK. LASIK tends to cause a little more nerve damage, which can be harder on dry eyes.
I’d like to offer a hearty THANK YOU!!1! to everyone here.
We’ve had threads and threads on cataracts but this one is da bomb for quality input from both veterans and those of us still teetering on the edge.
I’ve learned answers to questions I didn’t know existed.
My optometrist says my meibomian glands are all plugged up, which is why my eyes are so sore and dry. So I had to sit under a very bright hot light for about 20 min and then she squeezed my eyelids (weird). Is this the treatment you are getting? I’ll be overjoyed if it helps with the eye bags too!
(I didn’t feel like looking up how to spell meibomian, which is why I just said glands )
That sounds more like IPL - intense pulse light. Except IPL is, well, pulses. I did that a few years ago and it was amazing. I’m in a much better state now than I was back then. But no, it’s not the same thing I’m doing now.
The underlying concept is the same - the heat melts the oils in your glands, and the doc can express them out. It gives you a clean slate for fresh production. I also take an Omega 3 supplement to improve the quality of my tears.
The RF targets slightly different layers and parts, so part of the theory in my case is not to just do what worked before, but to attack from a different angle to try to be more complete.
We probably shouldn’t hijack this much more, but feel free to PM me if you want to chat about it, or we can start a dry eye thread. I’ve learned a lot the past few years.
BTW @LSLGuy I’ll be happy to refer you to the place I used for my surgery, if you decide to go forward and don’t have one suggested. Or if you just want a consult. It’s in Sunrise, near Sawgrass Mall. I don’t remember if you moved closer or further away.
Yes! I’ve gotten some good info here.
@Digital_is_the_new_Analog
Thanks. All my SoFL residences have been within a small area, so any one is as convenient as any other. I’m now in east Boca, so Sunrise is quite doable.
I need to clarify this figure.
The multi-focal lens cost $2300 for each eye. Medicare paid for everything but this amount. Had she opted for the ‘standard’ lenses, it would have cost us nothing.
I’m in the Bay Are, and the both eyes at once versus two weeks between were literally across the street from each other.
I can see the benefit of doing them at the same time in reducing recovery time, but I see the risk also.
I asked my husband if he was offered any choices in lenses when he went for his surgery, and he said the only ones he got were “Do you want near vision or far?” No discussion about any of the multifocal lenses that are available.
His were done a couple years apart. The first one was more complicated because he’d had an eye injury; the second one was a simple lens replacement done in 2022. I can’t say for sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the reason for that was that Medicare was the payer.
I will be making a note of this to make sure there is discussion of what’s available and appropriate for my situation when the time comes, regardless of who is paying for it.
I discovered something interesting. My old glasses weren’t working very well after my second surgery, because neither eye was right. However I’ve tossed my old glasses from the last 20 years or so in my dresser, and I went through them yesterday. I found a pair much closer to my new eyes than my most recent ones, and I can now see things far away again. Near vision is a bit worse, but that is fine without my glasses.
I gathered up all the ones that didn’t work and will bring them to the eye doctor’s office to donate when I get measured for my new glasses.
^ This.
I want to know my options and what’s best for me aside from cost. Because I might be able to swing out-of-pocket for this given it’s basically a long-term investment in myself. At least give me a chance to consider it.
As it happens, today I saw a cataract specialist. After a LOT of testing of my eyes we sat down to discuss things.
I definitely need it done on the right. Given my level of myopia she said I either get both eyes done, or if I just have the right done it will have to be near to the left and I’m left with the thick glasses I’ve worn all my life. Her recommendation was do both. As this is an opportunity for much improved vision overall I agreed that was a good idea.
After discussion of what I normally do in life, and my feelings about wearing glasses (I’ve been wearing them 16 hours a day for 50 years, I don’t find them that burdensome) the plan is to use toric lenses to set my vision to intermediate and near, which will minimize the amount of time I need to wear glasses, and use (much lighter and less complex) glasses for distance. It will be nice to wake up and actually see the clock, and to take a shower while being able to see my feet, the rim of the tub/shower, where I set down the soap, etc.
Awhile back for about 5 years instead of bifocals I used two pairs of glasses, one for near/intermediate and one for intermediate/distance which worked pretty well, and this would be sort of like that, but with just one pair of glasses. I might need glasses for some of the really detailed craft work I do, but right now I’m using glasses along with a magnifying glass so that would still be an improvement. Or just the magnifying glass without needing spectacles.
NOT getting that monovision thing. My eyes already have trouble cooperating with each other, and I’ve had several months now at this point with eyes at different focal distances and I am not adapting to that at all.
This is for my situation after consultation with a professional and should not be taken as a recommendation for anyone else.
It will be $4,000 out of pocket for both eyes. I can actually do that.
Still has some worries about it, but that’s largely because I absolutely detest surgery of any kind.
For my husband’s simple surgery, it literally took 15 minutes and I took him home after that. So as far as surgery goes, it’s really on the easy side.
Let us know how it goes for you.
For me it was roughly eight minutes of surgery surrounded by what felt like several years of eyedrops. Fair warning!
Just now spotted this thread.
Back in 2017, doc said that it was officially warranted if a) you could not be gotten to 20/20 with corrective lenses, or b) your eyes, with that correction, were more than 2 diopters apart. And from a less objective standpoint, if you feel you cannot do some activities (I no longer drove at night, for example).
If you are doing OK as is, then there’d be no rush, as you can then take your time in deciding on your preferred outcome (near vision, far vision, “monovision”), preference for being glasses-free, the various options (what lens setting, extra cost lens types, laser or not, etc.). Also, this can give you time to save up funds if you DO want an upgrade to the basic implant.
One recommendation I got was that I should try to have both eyes done in a short period of time. Something to do with brain adaptation. I wasn’t sure insurance would cover the “good” eye, but they said there was enough of a cataract developing there (not that I saw any problems…), that insurance would approve. Dunno if they fudged things or not, but insurance covered it, and I got them done 2 weeks apart.
Someone mentioned distance vision never being as good as with the OEM lenses. Well, I’ve been nearsighted since grade school, so that was not a concern!
Another concern is the various tradeoffs. As we age, for example, pretty much everyone develops presbyopia - I certainly could read FAR better by taking my glasses off, since I was nearsighted. Even with the age-related loss of lens flexibility, there was SOME flex - and an implant does not flex at all. Low light / fine print are my enemies now.
For what it’s worth, “toric” refers to the sort of lens that handles astigmatism; “intermediate and near” suggests you are looking at a multifocal. Both cost extra (as you noted, 4K out of pocket) - and of course a multifocal can be toric as well (one of mine is; the astigmatism in the other eye was mild enough that the laser could fix it).
Sorry you’ve had such a rough time dealing with the involuntary monovision! I was surprised at how well I had adapted - but the cataract happened in my weaker eye anyway, so I guess I was just used to compensating. I was not tempted to make that a permanent change!!
Your mention of near/intermediate is one of the preference things a person definitely needs to think about. For me, I opted for near/distance; I wear glasses pretty much ONLY on the computer. I do need something if I’m trying to read close-up stuff (but can often compensate by turning on my phone’s flashlight). Like you, I had tended to have 2 pairs of glasses; one for near/intermediate, and one for distance, which lived in the car.
And my own opinion on multifocals in general: make sure you can tolerate multifocal eyeglasses. I had MASSIVE trouble using the ones that covered everything from distance to reading - literally wanted to dash them to the floor, and jump up and down on them, shrieking. Room-distance multifocals were much more tolerable, which convinced me that the low-add (such as I think you are considering) was an OK choice - and it has been.
If they are slow-developing, you might have that option, but if they start to progress, you may need to do something sooner or lose the ability to do a LOT of things.
Oh, yeah: multifocal lenses may be a bad idea for some populations. My doctor (the one I later fired) said she could not opt for those for herself because of the concern over possible loss of precision - kinda important when you are doing surgery. Not sure that’s quite the right terminology, but if someone needs to be able to see very fine details, they may not be a good choice.
True, true. I’m doing my final eyedrop dose after dinner tonight, and its about time!
LOL, yes, I remember there was something like 10 days or 2 weeks of antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drops, maybe twice a day?